Shania Twain, Fergie, Nikki Sixx bring star power to ’The Launch’

Scott Borchetta and Fergie are shown in this undated handout photo. It all starts with the song. That's the idea behind "The Launch," a new star search series premiering Wednesday on CTV. (THE CANADAIN PRESS/HO-Bell Media-Mark ONeill)Mark ONeill / THE CANADIAN PRESS

It all starts with the song.

That’s the idea behind “The Launch,” a new star search series premiering Wednesday on CTV. It’s also the feature that will distinguish it from other TV talent search shows, according to the producers.

It may seem to some viewers that the air went out of the talent-show balloon two years ago when “American Idol” took a bow after 15 record-breaking seasons. The show, once referred to by rival broadcasters as “The Death Star,” didn’t scare anybody the last two seasons, which weren’t even shown on a major broadcast network in Canada.

With a more outrageous unscripted show — featuring a former reality star — drawing viewers over to the news channels, the industry seemed ready to push pause on the genre.

“Idol,” however, will not be idle long. It’s coming back in March, this time on ABC but still with Ryan Seacrest as host.

Beating it to the gate is “The Launch,” which, according to executive producer John Brunton — whose Insight Productions does the Junos and was behind “Canadian Idol” — flips the whole format on its head.

“On ‘Idol,’ you’d only hear the song at the very end,” he says. “This time, the song comes first, and the point of the show is to match the song to the right singer.”

“The Launch” is the pet project of Bell Media president Randy Lennox. The former Universal Music Canada CEO has been steering the private broadcaster in a rock ‘n’ roll direction since arriving in 2015.

“We always say with him, he doesn’t hear ‘no,”‘ says Insight’s Lindsay Cox, one of the showrunners on “The Launch.”

Lennox has already been making music at Bell. The west-end Toronto native stood before the board of directors and talked them into getting into the live theatre business with the stage musical “Bat Out of Hell.” That led to sold out runs in London and Toronto. With “The Launch,” he’s not just trying to help create a hit reality show, he’s attempting to launch a format that could be — as “Idol” was — successfully exported around the world.

“International distributors are waiting for something new,” says Jane Rimer, Insight’s chief international business and creative development head, “and they recognize that there’s always an appetite for music.”

Lennox used his music business connections to pull mogul Scott Borchetta — who discovered Taylor Swift — into the project. He’s chief among the celebrity mentors on the series, who also include Shania Twain, Fergie, Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic, Jennifer Nettles of Sugarland, Nikki Sixx of Motley Crue and Boy George.

“Boy George immersed himself in the show,” says Cox. “He took such care with the artists, he actually wanted to go and pick their wardrobe because he knew what would work, and he was right.”

Sixx also threw himself into the process, says Cox.

“He’s sitting there and his eyes are welling up as he’s watching people audition, because they were so good and so pure.”

Landing songwriters as part of the mix was key to this series’ chances. Busbee, who wrote the hit “Try” for Pink, contributes as does Tedder, who has written for Beyonce.

The series was shot in Toronto in what looks like a state-of-the-art commercial recording studio; in reality it was built from scratch on a soundstage.

The producers screened over 10,000 hopefuls before narrowing them down to 30. They hail from all over Canada, including Dylan Menzie from Belle River, P.E.I., Chad Price from London, Ont., and the band Havelin from Edmonton.

Each week is essentially about “launching a song and an artist together,” says Cox. “It’s not taking a complete amateur and saying, ‘Here’s a shot,’ like they do on ‘The Voice’ or ‘Idol’ where they give them a little bit of the showbiz razzle dazzle and cross their fingers.”

The chosen 30 are a mix of amateurs and professionals but none have recording contracts. Five give it their best shot a week.

“These are people who already have incredible talent, and in some cases, they’ve already got a good, strong, social media presence,” says Cox. “They just haven’t been launched.”

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